INEQUALITY TRENDS AND DIAGNOSTICS IN KENYA

A report that presents a comprehensive analysis of multidimensional inequality in Kenya has been released.

The report dubbed ‘Inequality Trends and Diagnostics in Kenya 2020,’ presents and interprets results from inequality analyses and measurements based on per capita household expenditure, assets, labour market earnings and access to labour market, to education and health and other basic services.

The report is a joint publication produced by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) in partnership with the Africa Centre for Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR) based at the School of Economics, University of Nairobi. The French Development Agency and the European Union who provided technical and financial support. In addition, the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) - Africa Centre for Excellence for Inequality Research (ACEIR) hub at the University of Cape Town provided in-depth technical support.

The data used is over the period 1994 to 2016 using nationally representative survey data that was collected and released by the KNBS. The report takes advantage of data from the Kenya population censuses and the housing surveys to draw maps of multidimensional inequalities at national and county levels that show in a snapshot, the geographical concentrations of disparities in social welfare countywide.

“The multidimensional approach to profiling inequality adopted in the report can facilitate the design of policy levers for addressing horizontal & vertical inequities that have been entrenched in Kenya for a long time,” said the Director General, KNBS, Mr. Macdonald Obudho. “The inequality estimates discussed in the report are disaggregated by population sub-groups, gender and geographical regions. It is my hope that this landmark study will be a catalyst for policies to overcome the twin problems of inequality and poverty in Kenya and beyond.”

Speaking on behalf of the Vice-chancellor, the Deputy Vice-chancellor, Finance, Planning and Development, Prof. Margaret Hutchinson highlighted the importance of partnerships between academia, government and the private sector.

“The University of Nairobi stands committed to creating partnerships and linkages geared towards research efforts by utilizing a multidiscipline approach in analyzing data that provides African solutions to African problems,” she noted. “Data analysis, especially that on development issues is instrumental in improving the quality of reporting on the sustainable development goals, harmonizing inequality measures across countries and addressing data challenges and gaps.    

Indeed, this is the main thrust of the UoN Research Policy which strives for conformity of research with international best practices in order to facilitate implementation and dissemination, and foster research linkages with institutions locally and internationally. The report is a testimony that home grown evidence and solutions can be derived through a joint venture that recognizes the strength of local institutions of higher learning and government departments.”

Presiding over the launch of the report, the Chief Administrative Secretary, State Department for Planning, Eric Simiyu Wafukho noted that the report is important to the Government as it provides requisite information for evidence-based decision making.

“Using data to inform policy is a universally recognized paradigm for efficient management of countries. This is evidenced through monitoring and evaluation of activities, projects and programmes, which affect our daily lives. In this regard, provision of timely, accurate and consistent statistical facts, places us in a position to plan the future and hence manage our affairs more efficiently,” said CAS Wafukho. “Today’s citizenry is increasingly demanding high quality statistics that are comprehensive, reliable, accurate and timely to benchmark and track the implementation of various national development initiatives. Kenyans are not an exception to this. To this end, I wish to appreciate the role played by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics and the University of Nairobi in providing useful requisite inequality data for planning, monitoring and evaluation, policy and programme formulation.”

Click here to download the report